Back to Winter weather here on Skye - 25th April

[donnieban]

Hi folks, just to update any cycling folks with intended tours to Skye & the Western Isles - the weather has reverted back to WINTER.

Snow and hail showers today across Skye with snow and frost forecast over the next few days. Please wrap up and insulate if your camping. No real snow accumulations as such but brief white outs with hail which may scupper people with tight timescales.

Donnie

[gloomyandy]

Thanks for that. I'm not surprised, it was probably in anticipation of a visit from me!

For many years I've been travelling to NW Scotland for the first week in May. The last five years I've been touring on my bike mainly on the islands. For many of those years I've been lucky with the weather and had a great week. However the last two have been pretty grim (I gave up last year after 3 very windy and wet nights in a tent). This year I've decided to make he most of my flexible time and to keep an eye on the weather and try and get a good spell. If I was a betting man I'd be putting my money on the week of the 7th-14th as being perfect weather (as it is the only week I can't go!). But if you have any local insight as to when would be good I'd love to know!

[bogmyrtle]

Please can you arrange for it to be warm and dry for Heb Celt Festival?

[eileithyia]

Return to Winter or rather descended into winter weather in Lancs these last few days, I swear it was warmer in December.... snow and hail has not been unusual here either... with the northerly winds I would any E2E-ers would be best starting at JOG.

[phil parker]

I've just returned from 14 days cycle-camping-touring in Scotland; it snowed on Day One, to Lochcarron, and most days after have had sleet, hail or snow flurries until I woke up Monday morning with an inch deep of snow around the tent and decided to call it a day and got the ferry back from Lerwick to Aberdeen and then got the train to collect my car from Inverness. The drive back over the Cairngorms yesterday was spectacular - luckily for me a snow plough had been over first in the morning before the gritted, otherwise I wouldn't have made it!

I packed my best winter gear just in case and boy, did I need it! The roads and scenery around the NC500 were spectacular during the rare dry spells

[iviehoff]

Frost and hail in April is nothing strange even in the south. In Scotland, snow in April is nothing strange - I suffered a fall of about an inch the only time I made an April tour in Scotland - but 36 hours later I was riding in T-shirt and shorts in warm sun. I have also been snowed on, with a couple of inches accumulating, in June in Scotland, but that was on the top of Ben Nevis, so different criteria apply.

Yesterday snowflakes were briefly seen in central London, and at home in Buckinghamshire it snowed quite heavily, but only for 10 minutes and it didn't settle. About 8 years ago we suffered a 15cm fall in early April. That was the same year we also suffered an October snowfall. About 20 years ago I experienced snow in Buckinghamshire in early May - on that occasion it even briefly settled - I was out on my bike and it was enough to force me off my bike for a few minutes due to loss of traction.

[RickH]

Return to Winter or rather descended into winter weather in Lancs these last few days, I swear it was warmer in December.... snow and hail has not been unusual here either... with the northerly winds I would any E2E-ers would be best starting at JOG.

Not just December but late January too. I've just checked back on Garmin Connect (which shows the temperature at the start of each ride when you view it). There's a regular trip I do on a Wednesday morning setting off at about 8:45am. Today Garmin Connect says it was 5.0C, on 16 December and 27 January it shows the temperature as 12.8C both mornings! There have been much colder morning in between mind.

Rick.

[ossie]

Bloody cold ride today through the hills of North Dorset today....comparable with most of my coldest rides this last winter.

However when the sun came out and the hedges blocked the Northerly it was sauna time...didnt last though.

Its grim, I toured thorugh Europe last Sept and got soaked most days, since then had to contend with Oct- April crap weather....8 months of rubbish, complete rubbish weather and in 16 weeks it starts all over again !

[donnieban]

Thanks for that. I'm not surprised, it was probably in anticipation of a visit from me!

For many years I've been travelling to NW Scotland for the first week in May. The last five years I've been touring on my bike mainly on the islands. For many of those years I've been lucky with the weather and had a great week. However the last two have been pretty grim (I gave up last year after 3 very windy and wet nights in a tent). This year I've decided to make he most of my flexible time and to keep an eye on the weather and try and get a good spell. If I was a betting man I'd be putting my money on the week of the 7th-14th as being perfect weather (as it is the only week I can't go!). But if you have any local insight as to when would be good I'd love to know!

Last year, I think our Summer arrived in October, pretty dire. Just started cycling to and from work again and last week was pretty good weather wise (a dry week mostly) so things are not entirely as bleak as first appears. Our Met office long-range forecast is showing some wilder weather creeping in this weekend so hopefully May will still be okay for all of us.

This morning it was heavy snow across Wester Ross less so here on Skye but its less than ideal for cycling. Tonight the gritters are out and the same for the morning....

Donnie

[ribblerouser]

On a positive note, shouldn't be bothered by wee beasties.
Colin

[gloomyandy]

The BBC is currently showing expected wind speeds of 40mph tonight for Uig (Skye) and Tarbert (Harris). On Weds they are forecasting 50+ mph. If that is anything like accurate (and it often isn't). I'm glad I decided not to head up there on Saturday as I normally would have done. If anyone is up in the islands how are things?